(WXIA) -- More Georgia high school students are taking -- and passing -- Advanced Placement exams.

Last school year, 89,806 Georgia students took 154,176 AP exams. That's an 8 percent increase in the number of participants and almost a 9 percent increase in the number of tests.

AP exams are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. Passing scores of 3, 4 or 5 often allow the test-takers to earn college credit.

Georgia's seniors earned 86,075 passing scores on their AP exams in 2014, a 9.6 percent increase over 2013.

English Language and Composition was the state's most popular AP exam, followed by U.S. History and World History.

In DeKalb County, 4,857 students took 7,481 AP exams in 2014, and 2,955 of those exams earned passing scores.

Here are the AP exam breakdowns for each DeKalb County public high school:

Arabia Mountain HS
289 students took 395 exams
114 passing scores

ATLANTA -- A former U.S. Poet Laureate is donating her archives to a library at Emory University in Atlanta.

Natasha Tretheway's drafts, early unpublished writings and computers will join other collections at the university's Manuscript Archives and Rare Book Library. The library's collections include work by Alice Walker, Seamus Heaney and Salman Rushdie.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robin Forman says Tretheway's archives will help students learn about the creative process and the meaning of poetry. Tretheway is a faculty member at Emory and the Poet Laureate of Mississippi.

She served as U.S. Poet Laureate for two terms. Her work includes the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection "Native Guard."

(WXIA) -- This weekend will be a holiday for Georgia families in more ways than one.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has suspended construction-related lane closures on all major interstates and highways within five miles of malls and shopping districts.

This will allow parents and students to enjoy the tax-free shopping weekend without the added stress of road delays.

"The sales tax holiday is an opportunity for Georgians to save a little money during these challenging economic times," GDOT Commissioner Keith Golden said. "The department is glad to offer some relief from lane closures as families prepare for school."

11Alive Ways to Save reporter Valerie Hoff has some of the best tax-free weekend deals. Find out how to get the most bang for your buck.